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2026 Exhibitions

2026 Exhibits

In Summary:

Portraits | Colette Balcaen
Colette Balcaen’s textile project comprises sixteen no-sew quilted portraits of renowned Canadian female authors, reflecting the emotional impact of their works on her Franco-Manitoban identity and integrating quotations to connect viewers with the authors’ diverse experiences.

Muses | Martine Bilodeau
Martine Bilodeau’s sixteen oil paintings on canvas reflect on young girls’ self-perception influenced by societal standards, emphasizing the need for girls to recognize their worth and embrace their inner muse.

Walking in Iceland | Nichol Marsch
Nichol Marsch’s twelve matte rag print photographs from her “Walking in Iceland” series explores identity, self-reflection, and personal healing through images taken during her residency in Iceland.

Woodland Grassland Wonderland | Earl Rina
Earl Rina’s acrylic paintings highlight the joy and significance of Manitoba’s boreal forests, prairie woodlands, and grasslands through daily interactions with the changing seasons.

Larsanity | Lars Stoltz
Lars Stoltz is a professional hot-knife artist. In Larsanity, he is exhibiting 10 artworks inspired by Indigenous spirits, including a spirit eagle, a world turtle, and a mythological Cree spirit.

Joni Mitchell Collete Balcaen

12a Joni Mitchell, Colette Balcaen

Portraits | Colette Balcaen

Medium and number of works: Textile, 16 

Dimensions: 28 in x 34

Description:

Portraits feature sixteen portraits of prominent Canadian authors, all influential in Canadian literature. These authors’ books resonate with Colette’s cultural identity and heritage. Their experiences as women and the emotions they convey inspired Colette to create artworks honouring them. Historically, textiles have been linked to women’s work and fashion, which drew Colette to the no-sew quilting method. She selected fabrics based on their textures, colours, and emotional responses to the authors’ writings. Her choices, described as fragile yet resilient, raw or refined, vibrant or subdued, reflect her interpretation of the messages conveyed.

Portraits aim to create an intimate atmosphere around these personalities, giving them a voice by incorporating quotations from their books. Visitors can connect with the portraits through the emotions reflected in the different writing styles. Colette’s research highlights her personal feelings as a Franco-Manitoban woman influenced by diverse women writers, including Anne Hébert, Antonine Maillet, Gabrielle Roy, Carol Shields, Margaret Laurence, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Nellie McClung, Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, June Callwood, Joni Mitchell, Nancy Huston, Dionne Brand, Denise Chong, Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk, and Annette Saint-Pierre.

Artist Bio: A Franco-Manitoban artist whose multidisciplinary work integrates textiles, sculpture, drawing, and performance to explore themes of heritage, storytelling, and cultural identity. Colette’s connection to the province’s French-speaking communities adds a unique layer to the project, emphasizing language, memory, and tradition in contemporary art.

Lucy Maude Montgomery Colette Balcaen

12m Lucy Maude Montgomery, Colette Balcaen

Ballerina Resting, Martine Bilodeau

Ballerina Resting, Martine Bilodeau

Martine Bilodeau

Medium and number of works: Original Oil on Canvas, 16

Dimensions: 28″x 34″

Description:

In her “Muses” series of oil paintings on canvas, Martine Bilodeau explores how young girls’ self-perception has been shaped by advertisements and societal expectations. These influences often depicted girls as objects to be controlled, rather than celebrated individuals. Bilodeau advocates for change, urging girls to recognize their intrinsic worth and embrace their inner muse.

Bilodeau grew up in a rural area of Quebec, on 300 acres of forest. Her parents had limited formal education, casting uncertainty on her future. Her family was seen as outsiders due to their remote location. Moving to the city, she felt a similar alienation from her rural background. She found solace in daydreaming, escaping the restrictions placed on her.

Her journey led her from Germany to Vancouver and into a 25-year film industry career—an unlikely dream during her youth. She established homes on the West Coast and in Mexico, where she now creates art. Her journey reflects her resolve to defy expectations and succeed.

Artist Bio: A francophone from Quebec, Martine’s diverse artistic practice includes painting, photography, and illustration, with her work focusing on the self-perception of young girls and the importance of embracing their inner strength. Her exploration of personal identity and empowerment offers a profound perspective that resonates with audiences across generations.

Walking in Iceland | Nichol Marsch

Medium and number of works: Photography, Matte Rag Prints, 12. 

Description:

Nichol Marsch primarily works in multimedia sculptural installations, focusing on self-reflective themes such as social constructs, identity, place, and invariability. Her abstract approach emphasizes process and materials, embodying lived experiences and observations of social structures and mundane routines. Her work features collection, repetition, and accumulation, ranging from unique pieces to large installations, often displayed in precise, ordered patterns. She frequently uses photography and digital editing to create these patterns and final exhibition pieces.

“Walking in Iceland” centers on identity, self-reflection, and exploration, using images taken during a residency in Iceland. There, Marsch engaged in personal healing alongside her art practice. She combines found images with her documentation, constructing new images through layering—a method integral to her practice. This process distills 10 to 100 images into single nonrepresentational forms, capturing their collective essence in new abstract ways. These abstractions often translate into her beadwork and embroidery, offering new modes of exploration free from distinct representational forms. 

 During her residency, Marsch captured images while walking alone in Iceland, reflecting on her personal life and managing mundane tasks akin to those at home, informing her current series.

Artist Bio: Nichol’s installations challenge societal norms while embracing Manitoba Métis and Indigenous craft traditions. Her Métis heritage is integral to her work, allowing her to delve deeply into themes of identity, resilience, and cultural hybridity, making her contributions both timely and necessary.

the shores

The Shores, Nichol Marsch

Walking in Iceland
Evocative Rich Grass Field, Earl Sinajon

Evocative Rich Grass Field, Earl Sinajon

Woodland Grassland Wonderland | Earl Sinajon

Medium and number of works: Acrylic Painting, 10-15. 

Description:

Earl’s artwork aims to convey a vision of joyfulness by highlighting the beauty of our daily interactions with the environment and the changing seasons. His work focuses on the splendour of Manitoba’s boreal forests, prairie woodlands, and grasslands, emphasizing their significance and importance.

Artist Bio: Earl’s multidisciplinary practice spans painting, photography, and sculpture, investigating identity, movement, and the natural world. As a Filipino Manitoban artist, Earl brings forward the underrepresented BIPOC voices in the arts, with past exhibitions in 2SLGBTQ+ spaces, such as his solo show Chlorophyll, examining the intersections of identity, community, and the environment.

Image6-EarlRina(Sinajon)-Idyllic - Earl Rina
image of turtle<br />

Larsanity | Lars Stoltz

Medium and number of works: Hotknife on Cedar, 10

Dimensions: 32”x40”

Description:

This exhibition showcases a uniquely Canadian style of artistic talent. Lars Stolz, a professional hot-knife artist, presents a personal collection featuring numerous works, each measuring 32″ x 40″. Stolz is currently developing a new series that depicts Indigenous spirits in art, including a spirit eagle, a world turtle, and a mythological Cree spirit.  

Artist Bio: A Cree artist from Whitehorse, currently living in Northern Manitoba in Snow lake. Lars is renowned for his innovative approach to art-making, blending traditional and contemporary techniques. His work showcases Indigenous artistic innovation, making his contributions vital in bridging cultural gaps and offering new perspectives in contemporary art.